Whilst birding the Jubail area in late May I came across two European Rollers of which one I was able to photograph and is shown below. Saudi Arabia has three species of roller on the country list.
These are Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis a vagrant, Abyssinian Roller Coracias abyssinicus a breeding resident of the southwest region of the Kingdom and European Roller Coracias garrulus a common passage migrant from March to May and again from mid-July to late September when juveniles are also seen along with adults.
Birds are regularly seen in the Eastern Province in all areas but are not particularly common in the Jubail area. They are seen almost every year in both spring and autumn in very small numbers at this location but they are always good to see.
Jem Babbington
Jem Babbington is a keen birder and amateur photographer located in Dhahran, Eastern Saudi Arabia where he goes birding every day. Jem was born in England and is a serious local patch and local area birder who has been birding for almost forty years and has birded in more than fifty countries. Jem is learning to ring birds in Bahrain as a perfect way to learn more about the birds of the area. Saudi Arabia is a very much under-watched and under-recorded country.
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